Irregardless of its convenience, the Internet promotes the Worst. Writing. Ever.

Sunday

Feb 10, 2013 at 12:01 AMFeb 10, 2013 at 7:16 AM

Gene Weingarten discusses HERE the widespread assertion that the Internet has ushered in an age of bad writing.

An excerpt:

Before the Internet, obfuscatory language was mostly limited to the small world of the interoffice memo, where everyone conspired to be as vague and process-driven as possible — promising nothing concrete while sounding businesslike. Today, however, terms such as “optimize,” “prioritize,” “initiative,” “parameter,” “implement” and “effectuate” have become common parlance on the Web, used unabashedly in endlessly intriguing combinations. There are hundreds of instances of “prioritize the implementation of,” “implement the prioritization of,” “effectuate the implementation of,” etc. The expression ...

Read more

Pat Cunningham

Gene Weingarten discusses HERE the widespread assertion that the Internet has ushered in an age of bad writing.

An excerpt:

Before the Internet, obfuscatory language was mostly limited to the small world of the interoffice memo, where everyone conspired to be as vague and process-driven as possible — promising nothing concrete while sounding businesslike. Today, however, terms such as “optimize,” “prioritize,” “initiative,” “parameter,” “implement” and “effectuate” have become common parlance on the Web, used unabashedly in endlessly intriguing combinations. There are hundreds of instances of “prioritize the implementation of,” “implement the prioritization of,” “effectuate the implementation of,” etc. The expression ...